Projects: Houses

Ashburton House

The form of the new house is an extruded L shape, two storeys tall. The inside of the L is lined with windows that face a linear park & its canopy of trees to the south-east of the site. “The new house was designed around one long view,” says Peter, & it is as simple as that. All the rooms take advantage of it … The house is planned around views from the inside, yet the aesthetic focus is mainly on the exterior. The metal-clad upper storey, with its jutting, angled planes, is not mere sculptural play, however. Peter describes it as a “sawtooth facade.” Like a roof on its side, it is a self-shading wall – the angled planes block summer sun from striking & heating the surface … Inside the house, there is a joyous feeling of being in the tree canopy, with the park stretching into the distance … Multiple access points allow the clients’ children to run around & through the house. There is a real empathy with how children will perceive & enjoy the space in the way Peter speaks about the internal planning.